Roller cages such as those found in roller bearings or roller clutches are generally constructed either in a plurality of sections or folded from a single piece or blank having two terminal ends. Some means is necessary to structurally join together these separate sections or parts after they have been adjoined to complete the construction of the cage. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,507, Kraus et al, shows a plastic roller bearing cage formed of a single piece with two adjoinable terminal ends which are snapped together by a flexible tongue and slot. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,304, Wakunami, shows a roller cage made up of several separate pieces, all of which are snapped together with cooperating slots and tabs.
When the cage is one designed to retain the rollers which comprise the lock up elements of a one way roller clutch, it is not only necessary to structurally join together the separate parts of the cage, but it is also necessary to provide means to mount the roller energizing springs to the cage so that they may bias the rollers toward lock-up position. Typical of such a cage is the one disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,472, Sauzedde, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. There, a metal roller cage is folded from a single metal blank leaving two terminal and adjoinable ends. These are joined together by dove-tail shaped tongues and grooves, which are also spot welded.
A cage of this type is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. There, a sheet metal cage designated generally at 10, is folded from a single sheet metal blank and includes a plurality of integral sections designated generally at 12. All sections 12 are identical except for the two terminal sections designated at 12' and 12". These two parts of the cage 10 must be adjoined and structurally held together. The conventional means for doing so is a dove-tail flange 14 on end 12' which fits into a matching dove-tail slot 16 in end 12". A spot weld 18 completes the structure. From a manufacturing standpoint, it would be desirable to eliminate the spot welding step.